We have amazing news! Six extraordinary Lambda Literary Foundation donors have pledged $2,500 each–in celebration of LLF’s 25th Anniversary–for a total of $15,000 that, if matched, will help raise $30,000 for our fall challenge grant and membership drive. Now through the month of November, Lambda Literary members Al Baum, William Cohen, Steven Coulter, David McConnell, Curtis Scribner and Jan Zivic are challenging you to match their donations! New memberships at the $35 level or higher, as well as any additional donations by current LLF members will be matched dollar-for-dollar to help raise $30,000 for LLF’s programs and services.

Active in philanthropy, LGBT civil rights, business, the arts and literature, these six donors are major supporters of the Foundation’s mission to nurture, celebrate and preserve LGBT literature through programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage the development of emerging writers.

If you are not a current member of Lambda Literary now is the perfect opportunity to join the global leader advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender literature and see your tax-deductible gift doubled.

If you are already a member of LLF, use this occasion to increase your yearly contribution and your tax-deductible gift will be matched.

If you would like to join these six donors by also giving $2,500 for our 25th Anniversary we will promote your contribution as an additional incentive to challenge donors to match your pledge!

LLF’s 25th Anniversary challenge grant and membership drive will stretch your dollars in this struggling economy to help us continue to deliver exceptional–one-of-a-kind–programming, including:

The Lambda Literary Awards, since 1989, are the most prestigious literary prize in the LGBT community.

The Lambda Literary Review at www.LambdaLiterary.org, the web’s premier resource for LGBT literature, publishes more LGBT book reviews than any other publication in the world, as well as dozens of author interviews, special features, literary resources, and book and publishing industry news relevant to the LGBT community.

Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, established in 2007, is the first of its kind ever offered to LGBT writers: a one-week intensive immersion in fiction, nonfiction, genre fiction, or poetry and an unparalleled opportunity to learn from the very best writers and publishing industry professionals.

LGBT Writers in Schools, in collaboration with the Gay/Straight Educators Alliance, is pairing our community’s authors with English classrooms in high school and college to bring our rich literary traditions to young people.

For nonprofits like ours, particularly now when budget cuts are the rule of the day, we are constantly tested and stretched to continue our work. The Lambda Literary Foundation counts on your support to sustain our programs, pay our reviewers, our rent, purchase supplies, host book clubs, readings and workshops, spotlight our publishers, keep readers and librarians current on the latest LGBT book releases, engage our community in dynamic conversations about the state of queer publishing and continue to put our community’s literature front and center.

We can’t do this work without people like you, people whose lives are enriched by books, who want to read the LGBT experience in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, who believe in the power of the written word and in our ability to make change through the literary arts.

Please give generously. To be sure, every penny we raise at LLF is well spent promoting our mission. Whether you can afford $35, $250 or $1000, you will see your contribution doubled during this challenge grant! Help us to continue our highly respected programs, expand our capacity to serve the entire LGBT literary community, and increase the visibility of our books and writers.

We are deeply grateful to Al Baum, William Cohen, Steven Coulter, David McConnell, Curtis Scribner and Jan Zivic for their generosity. Help us turn their $15,000 challenge into $30,000 for LLF’s programs by making a donation today.

Tony Valenzuela, Executive Director, Lambda Literary Foundation. A graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program of the California Institute of the Arts, Valenzuela is a longtime community activist and writer whose work has focused on LGBT civil rights, sexual liberation and gay men’s health. Read his full bio here and contact him here.